Entering credit card details on a mobile isn’t a convenient process and will put many users off, particularly when they are signing up to a ‘free trial’.

It is obvious why The Telegraph wants the details up front. The hope is that if users are unhappy with the app they may forget to cancel the subscription and will keep paying the monthly fee.

Desktop users may be used to this ploy and don’t mind signing up as it is a simple process, but you can’t necessarily apply the same logic to mobile users.

The Times appears to have understood the difference, as Android users don’t even have to register an email address to begin the free one-month trial of its app.

And The Telegraph also needs to compete with The Guardian, although it obviously appeals to slightly different readerships, which gives away its app for free.

I’d wager that, thanks to the relatively simple in-app payment process, The Telegraph sells many more subscriptions for iPhone users.

For the Android app, perhaps it is relying on regular readers who know the paper well, but allowing users to try the app and see its full functionality without having to register with card details may encourage more subscriptions in the long run.

A broader point is that, to encourage people to pay for apps, publishers need to offer something that users can’t find free of charge elsewhere. This may be useful tools for offline reading, features like goal alerts, and so on.

All The Telegraph’s news, sport and financial content is available on the mobile web, so it’s unclear what users will get before they have to enter card details.

It does offer Premier League highlights through ESPN Goals, but this standalone app can be downloaded for free anyway.